Wu Zetian is the second daughter of the Tang Dynasty Founding Hero Wu Shi Tong, her mother Yang (born in the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, her father is Yang Da, the younger brother of Yang Xiong, the King of Guande of the Sui Dynasty), and her ancestral home is in Wude County, and she was born in Lizhou in the seventh year of Wude. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info has half-brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, and two sisters of the same mother, one is Mrs. Wu Shun of South Korea, and the other is Mrs. Guo.

His father, the samurai, was engaged in the timber trade, and his family was well-off and wealthy. In the last years of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, when Li Yuan served in Hedong and Taiyuan, he became acquainted with the martial arts because he stayed in the martial arts many times. After Li Yuan raised troops against the Sui in Taiyuan, the martial arts had funded money, grain, and clothing, so after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, he had served as a "Yuan Cong Meritorious Hero" in the Ministry of Officials, Huangmen Shilang, Judge Liushang Shushi, Yangzhou Governor Shi, Lizhou, Jingzhou Governor and other positions. After the death of his father, Wu Shitong, in the ninth year of Zhenguan, his cousins Wu Weiliang, Wu Huaiyun and Wu Yuanshuang were rude to his mother Yang.

In November of the eleventh year of Zhenguan, when Wu Zetian was fourteen years old, Tang Taizong heard that she had beautiful appearance and demeanor, summoned her to the palace, and was named a five-grade talent, and was given the name "Wu Mei", and later generations falsely called Wu Meiniang. Before Wu Zetian entered the palace, he said goodbye to his widowed mother Yang, saying: "How can the saint who serves the son of heaven know that it is not a blessing?

For Wu Zetian's life in the palace during the Tang Taizong period, the history books do not describe it in detail, only Wu Zetian recalled that he tamed the horse for Taizong in his later years. Taizong had a horse named Lion Skull, fat and capricious, and no one could tame it. Wu Zetian was serving on the side at that time and said to Tang Taizong: "I can subdue it, but I need three things: one is an iron whip, the second is an iron rod, and the third is a dagger." If you don't accept it, you hit it on the head with an iron rod, and if you don't accept it, you cut its throat with a dagger. Tang Taizong praised Wu Zetian's ambition.

But Wu Zetian was not favored by Tang Taizong, and he was a talented person for 12 years, but his status was never improved, and during Tang Taizong's serious illness, Wu Zetian and the crown prince Li Zhi established a relationship.

In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, Tang Taizong died, and Wu Zetian entered Chang'an Ganye Temple as a nun with some childless concubines according to the example of the Tang harem, but she and the new emperor Li Zhi have been disconnected.

In May of the first year of Yonghui, when Tang Gaozong entered the Ganye Temple on the anniversary of Taizong's death, he met Wu Zetian again, and the two recognized each other and told each other about their feelings of longing after parting.

In the second year of Yonghui, Queen Wang, who fell out of favor because she had no children, took the initiative to ask Gaozong to include Wu Zetian in the palace, in an attempt to hit her rival Xiao Shufei. Li Zhi had already had this intention and immediately agreed.

In May of the second year of Yonghui, Tang Gaozong's filial piety clothes were full, Wu Zetian entered the palace again, Wu Zetian was pregnant before entering the palace, and gave birth to his son Li Hong after entering the palace. After Wu Zetian returned to the palace, he did quickly defeat Concubine Xiao Shufei and won Li Zhi's favor, and in May of the following year, he was worshiped as the second rank Zhaoyi. At that time, Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu often competed with Wu Zhaoyi for favor and said bad things about each other, but Li Zhi didn't listen.

Wu Zetian is scheming, ruthless, and involved in literature and history. Yonghui five years, Wu Zetian gave birth to the eldest daughter Princess Andingsi, in the first month after Princess Andingsi was born, Queen Wang came to visit, love and tease the princess to play, after Queen Wang walked out, Wu Zetian took advantage of no one to strangle the girl to death, and covered the quilt. Just when Li Zhi came, Wu Zetian pretended to laugh, opened the quilt to look at the child together, and found that his daughter was dead, Wu Zetian cried. When I asked the people around me what was going on, they all said, "The queen has just been here." Li Zhi was furious and said, "The queen killed my daughter!" Wu Zetian then wept and counted the sins of the queen and the queen. Queen Wang couldn't explain it clearly, and Li Zhi had a plan to "abolish Wang Liwu" from then on.

In June of the sixth year of Yonghui, there were rumors in the harem that Queen Wang and her mother Liu were tired of winning, and after Li Zhi learned about it, he was furious and drove his mother Liu out of the palace, and also wanted to make Wu Zhaoyi from Zhaoyi Jin as a concubine, but because of the opposition of the prime minister Han Ying and Laiji, it could not be done in the end. At that time, the elder ministers of the imperial court headed by the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang were powerful, and Li Zhi's power was greatly restricted. Li Zhi attempted to use the "abolition of Wang Liwu" to reinvigorate the imperial power and strike at the power of the old ministers. As a result, Wu Zetian began to become Gaozong's political "comrade-in-arms".

Soon, Li Yifu, a scholar of the Zhongshu House, was the first to support the "abolition of Wang Liwu", and was rewarded by Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, and many middle-level officials saw that it was profitable to support "abolish Wang Liwu" and turned to support Liwu Zetian, Xu Jingzong, Cui Yixuan, Yuan Gongyu and other ministers have submitted to Li Zhilian a request for Liwu Zhaoyi to be the queen's seal. Li Zhi saw that there were many people who supported it, and the idea of abolishing it sprouted again. On October 13 of the same year, Li Zhi finally issued an edict: On the charge of "conspiracy to poison," Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were deposed as concubines and imprisoned; their parents and brothers were also removed from office and exiled to Lingnan. Seven days later, Li Zhi issued another edict to make Wu Zetian empress, and at the same time, he demoted Chu Suiliang, the prime minister who was the most opposed to him, to the governor of other states.

In April of the fourth year of Xianqing, Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong reached a consensus: the eldest grandson Wuji, Yu Zhining, Han Ming, Lai Ji and others were reduced and dismissed, and demoted from Beijing. At this point, Li Zhi basically realized the centralization of monarchical power. The "Abolition of Wang Liwu" incident dealt a heavy blow to the Guanlong aristocracy, and the situation of the sluggish imperial power since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was changed, which had a very great impact on Chinese history.

In October of the fifth year of Xianqing, Li Zhifeng suffered a seizure, was dizzy, and could not deal with national affairs, so he asked Wu Zetian to deal with the government. However, it also caused a rift between Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, and it also caused Wu Zetian to be almost abolished.

In the first month of the first year of Longshuo, Wu Zetian asked to prohibit women in the world from being haiyu (ancient artists who performed burlesque), and Li Zhi adopted and issued an edict. In April, Li Zhi wanted to personally lead a large army to attack Goryeo, but Wu Zetian's admonition was impossible, and it was adopted.

In the first year of Lin De, Li Zhi asked Prime Minister Shangguanyi to draft an edict abolishing Wu Zetian. When the ink was not dry, Wu Zetian found out in time that he had applied both soft and hard, and the matter of abolishing the queen had to end in failure. So, Wu Zetian suggested to Li Zhi that she should go to the court together and listen to the government in the court. Collectively known as the two saints, her political experience and influence have further increased.

But Wu Zetian was not satisfied, she wanted to seal Mount Tai with Li Zhi. Due to the prosperity of the country during the reign of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian actively swept Li Zhi to seal Mount Tai. When sacrificing to the god of Haotian, the emperor deserves to enjoy, and when sacrificing to the emperor and the earth, the queen mother deserves to enjoy. When the Zen is sealed, it is first offered by the emperor, and the secretary is the second offering. But after all, Feng Chan has no queen's business, so she said that Feng Chan is a ritual to sacrifice the earth, and it is shared by the queen mother, highlighting the virtue of the earth. It is very inappropriate to let the minister be the subordinate, because there is a difference between men and women. Foreign ministers cannot be allowed to come to sacrifice. So I want her to act as a sub-sacrifice herself, so that she can honor and honor her mother-in-law, and Li Zhi really agreed. Later, on the first day of the first month of the third year of Linde, she and Li Zhi sealed Mount Tai together, served as a sub-offering, and also gave the hundred officials a knight and rank, so that the hundred officials were grateful to her.

In the second year of Qianfeng, Li Zhi did not recover from a long-term illness and ordered the crown prince Li Hong to supervise the country.

In August of the first year of the Shangyuan Dynasty, Li Zhi was called the emperor, and Wu Zetian was called the queen of heaven. In December, Wu Zetian suggested twelve things:

First, persuade farmers and mulberries to be thin.

Second, to restore the three auxiliary lands (exempt from forced labor in Chang'an and its vicinity).

Third, stop the army and moralize the world.

Fourth, the south and north are still (government handicraft workshops) are forbidden to be fancy.

Fifth, save work and labor.

Sixth, the road of wide speech.

Seventh, Du slander.

Eighth, the prince and the prince all practiced "Lao Tzu".

Nine, the father is serving the mother for three years (in the past it was one year).

10. Those who have been given a certificate of appointment by the former commander of the Shangyuan "Year Name" will not be retrospective.

11. Beijing officials above the eighth grade, benefit from the endowment (increase salary).

Twelve, hundreds of officials have been in office for a long time, and those who are in high positions have to be advanced (promoted) to apply for delay.

Li Zhidu agreed, and the edict was promulgated and implemented. Wu Zetian was able to attach importance to agricultural production, stipulating that those who "cultivated land and had surplus grain at home" in various prefectures and counties should be given higher rewards; those who "were harsh in government and had their household registration transferred" would be punished. The agricultural book "Zhaoren Benye" compiled by him was promulgated all over the world and had a great impact. During Wu Zetian's reign, his religious policy was based on Buddhism over Taoism.

In the second year of the Shangyuan Dynasty, Li Zhi's wind vertigo became even worse, so he discussed with the ministers and prepared to make Wu Zetian regent. Prime Minister Hao Chujun admonished: "Your Majesty, why should you entrust the world of Gaozu and Taizong to the Queen of Heaven instead of passing it on to your descendants!" Li Zhi therefore temporarily suspended. After Wu Zetian learned about it, he convened a large number of literati and bachelors, revised a large number of books, and successively wrote "Xuanlan", "Ancient and Modern Neifan", "Qinggong Minutes", "Shaoyang Zhengfan", "Weicheng Classics", "Zishu Yaolu", "Fenglou New Commandment", "Filial Piety Biography", "Lienu Biography", "Neifan Yaolu", "Music Book Yaolu", "Hundred Bureaucratic New Commandments", "Zhaoren Benye", "Chenlu" and other books. and secretly ordered this group of scholars to participate in the court recital to divide the power of the prime minister, and was called "Beimen Bachelor" by the people at the time. In the same year, the crown prince Li Hong died of illness, and Li Xian, the second son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, was renamed the crown prince.

In the second year of the confession, Li Xian was deposed as a concubine for the crime of treason and exiled to Bazhou. Therefore, he made his third son, Li Xian, the crown prince.

In the second year of Yongchun, Li Zhi drove to Fengtian Palace, when Wu Zetian persuaded Li Zhi to seal Zen Zhongyue after sealing Mount Tai. Li Zhi was terminated due to illness. Li Zhi was suffering from a headache that could not be tolerated, and the doctor Qin Minghe said: "The prickly head is slightly bleeding, and it can be cured." Wu Zetian said in the tent: "This doctor can be beheaded, do you want to prick blood on the emperor's head!" Li Zhi said: "I suffer from headaches, bleeding may not be bad!" The doctor pricked Baihui with a needle, and Li Zhi said: "My eyes have seen." Soon, the edict ordered the crown prince Li Xian to act as the state minister, and Pei Yan, Liu Qixian, Guo Zhengyi and others served as Tongping Zhangshi in the East Palace. Li Zhi returned to the Eastern Capital from Fengtian Palace, and he was very ill, and the ministers below the prime minister could not be promoted. In December of the same year, Li Zhi died, and his deathbed edict: Prince Li Xian ascended the throne in front of the coffin, and if there is a major military affairs that cannot be adjudicated, it will be decided by the Queen of Heaven. Four days later, Li Xian ascended the throne as Tang Zhongzong, and respected Wu Zetian as the empress dowager.

In February of the first year of Guangzhai, Li Xian planned to appoint Wei Xuanzhen, the father of Empress Wei, as a servant, and the prime minister Pei Yan strongly admonished him, Li Xian said angrily: "Even if I give the whole world to Wei Xuanzhen, why can't I? Do I still care about a servant?" Wu Zetian used this as an excuse to depose Li Xian as the king of Luling and move to Fangzhou. The fourth son, Li Dan, King Yu, was appointed as the emperor, which was for Tang Ruizong, and Wu Zetian was in charge of the dynasty and ruled by himself. In September of the same year, Xu Jingye and Xu Jingyou brothers, together with Tang Zhiqi and Du Qiuren, raised troops in Yangzhou to oppose the army in Yangzhou with the call of supporting the King of Luling, and gathered 100,000 troops in more than ten days. Empress Wu immediately took Li Xiaoyi, the general of Zuo Yuchao, as the governor of Yangzhou Province, and led 300,000 troops to conquer. In November, Xu Jingye committed suicide in defeat.

In March of the second year of the vertical arch, Wu Zetian ordered the manufacture of copper kuang, placed in front of the Luoyang Palace, and accepted the subordinates at any time. At the same time, the door to whistleblowing was opened, stipulating that anyone could whistleblow. For all informers, the state must provide wagons and horses and food. Even if it was a farmer, Wu Zetian personally received him. If the told thing is in line with the will, it can be promoted exceptionally. If the accusation is not true, there will be no guilt. At the same time, Wu Zetian successively appointed a large number of cool officials such as Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and Hou Sizhi to take charge of the prison. In this way, with the rise of the trend of whistleblowing, the number of people who were tortured to death by the cruel officials increased day by day. As a result, a very terrifying political atmosphere was formed inside and outside the court, so that every time the ministers went to court, they had to say goodbye to their families, and they were in fear all day long. In order to reward the whistleblower, Wu Zetian made an exception to the whistleblower. In that year, he killed 12 members of the clan including Li Ying, the king of Annam, and whipped the two sons of the late prince Li Xian.

Wu Zetian plotted to seize Li Tang's Sheji and eliminate the Tang clan, and the kings were not at ease and wanted to raise troops to fight. When there was no consensus, Li Chong, the evil king of Bozhou Assassin Shilang, raised troops in Bozhou in August of the fourth year of the arch. Li Zhen, the king of Yuzhou assassinated Shi Yue, raised troops in Yuzhou to echo. Wu Zetian dispatched Qiu Shenqi and Wei Chongyu to attack him. Li Chong, the evil king of Lang, was defeated and killed in seven days, and in September, Li Zhen, the king of Yue, committed suicide in defeat. Wu Zetian wanted to get rid of the kings of the Li family, so that Zhou Xing and others interrogated him, and forced Li Yuanjia, the king of Han, Li Lingkui, the king of Lu, Li Shu, the prince of Huang Guo, Li Rong, the prince of Dongguan County, and Princess Changle to commit suicide, and their cronies were all executed.

In the same year, Wu Zetian ordered Xue Huaiyi to lead more than 10,000 people to destroy the Qianyuan Hall and build the Ming Hall, which took nearly a year to complete, with a height of 294 feet and a width of 300 feet. There are three floors in total, and the upper part is a round cover, and there is a nine dragons as a posture of holding. There is an iron phoenix on it, one zhang high. Decorated with gold, it is called the "Vientiane Shrine". The Ming Hall was completed, and the monk Xue Huaiyi was ordered to cast a large statue, the little finger of the big statue can also accommodate dozens of people, and the five-story heaven in the north of the Ming Hall was used to accommodate this big statue. The cost is in the trillions, and the government finances are dried up. Wu Chenghei ordered someone to chisel the white stone for the text: "Our Lady is coming, and the Yongchang Emperor is the industry." It is claimed to be found in Luoshui and dedicated to Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian was overjoyed, and ordered his stone to be called "treasure map". After that, Wu Zetian was honored as the "Holy Mother of God and Emperor".

In July of the second year of Zaichu, Fa Ming and others wrote four volumes of the "Great Cloud Sutra", saying that Wu Zetian was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha and should be the master of the world, and Wu Zetian ordered the promulgation of the world. Ordered the two capitals and prefectures to place a Dayun Temple, Tibetan "Dayun Sutra", ordered the monks to explain, and raised the status of Buddhism above Taoism. In September, the imperial Shi Fu Youyi led 900 people in Guanzhong to the table, please change the country name to Zhou, and give the emperor the surname Wu. So more than 60,000 officials, imperial relatives, common people, Siyi chiefs, shamen, and Taoist priests also asked to change the country name. Wu Houzhun was invited, changed Tang to Zhou, and changed Yuan Tianzhu. The honorific title of the Holy Spirit Emperor was changed to the Yuan Heavenly Grant, but Li Dan was still the emperor's heir, and the surname Wu was given. The seven temples of the Wu clan were in the divine capital, and the king of Zhou Wen was posthumously honored: the ancestor Emperor Wen. Liwu Chenghei is the king of Wei, Wu Sansi is the king of Liang, and the rest of the Wu family is the king and the eldest princess.

In September of the first year of longevity, Wu Zetian sent Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhongjie to lead the army to the northwest. On October 25, Wang Xiaojie broke Tushan, recovered the four towns of Qiuci, Shule, Khotan, and Shaye Anxi, and set up the Anxi capital to protect Qiuci. In the case of the unanimous opposition of the ministers, Wu Zetian resolutely sent 30,000 soldiers to the four towns of Anxi. This measure made the four towns of Anxi stable from then on, and there was no recurrence until the time of Tang Xuanzong.

On the third day of the first month of the second year of longevity, he killed the concubines of the emperor's heir Li Dan, Liu, and Concubine Dou. On the seventh day of the first month, the emperor's grandson Li Chengqi was demoted to the king of Shouchun County, the Heng King Li Chengyi was demoted to the king of Hengyang County, the Chu King Li Longji was demoted to the king of Linzi County, the Wei King Li Longfan was demoted to the king of Baling County, and the Zhao King Li Longye was reduced to the king of Pengcheng County. On the ninth day of the ninth month of September, Wu Zetian added the name of "Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor", implemented a general amnesty, and granted permission to gather for seven days to make "seven treasures" such as golden wheels and white elephants. On the 14th, Wu Zetian posthumously honored his great-grandfather Emperor Zhao'an as Emperor Zhao'an of Hunyuan, his grandfather Emperor Wenmu as Emperor Liji Wenmu, and his father Emperor Xiaoming Gao as Emperor Supreme Xiaominggao.

After three years of longevity, Wu Sansi led the leaders of the four Yi to cast the heavenly pivot with copper and iron, standing outside the end gate, in order to praise Wu Zetian's merits. Wu Zetian personally inscribed: "The Great Zhou Dynasty and all countries praise virtue Tianshu". Tianshu casting lasted eight months, one zhang high, with two million catties of copper and iron.

On the second day of the first month of the first year of the first year of the Book of Heaven, Wu Zetian was added to the name of "Cishi Yuegu Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor", and the year name was changed to "Zhengsheng". and granted a general amnesty, and permission to drink together for three days. In May, the Khitan leaders Li Quanzhong and Sun Wanrong led their troops to revolt, captured Yingzhou, and killed the governor Zhao Wenhui. Wu Zetian sent generals Cao Renjie, Zhang Xuanyu, Li Duozuo and others to lead troops to conscript. Due to the mistaken ambush of the Tibetan soldiers, the whole army was annihilated. Then, the Wu clan sent Wu Youyi, Wang Xiaojie and others to lead troops to fight, but they were all defeated. In April of the first year of Shengong, Wu Zetian sent Wu Yizong, Lou Shide, and Sha Zha Zhongyi to lead 200,000 troops to crusade against the Khitan. In June, Sun Wanrong was defeated and killed, and the remnants of the Khitan surrendered to the Turks.

In the first year of Shengong, the cool officials came to Junchen to sue the kings of the Wu clan and the princess Taiping, and wanted to falsely accuse the emperor's heir and the king of Luling against the north and south ya, and planned to catch them all. The kings of the Wu clan and Princess Taiping were very frightened, and jointly exposed his crimes, and were sentenced to death in prison. The enemy fights for his flesh, and in a short time it will be eaten up. Lai Junchen is cunning and greedy, trapping innocents, weaving rebellions, and killing people is incalculable. "The bribes are like mountains, and the souls are blocked", the Empress Wu also knew the resentment of the world, and ordered him to count his crimes and confiscate his family property.

In the first year of the holy calendar, Wu Chenghei and Wu Sansi sought to be the crown prince, and several times they said to Empress Wu: "Since ancient times, the Son of Heaven has not taken a different surname as an heir. Wu Zetian hesitated, Di Renjie said to Empress Wu: "Aunt and nephew or mother and son, which is closer?" (Wu Chenghei, Wu Sansi are all nephews of Empress Wu, Zhongzong and Ruizong are the sons of Empress Wu), Your Majesty set up a son, then after a thousand years of life, he will worship as an ancestor in the Taimiao; He also persuaded Wu Zetian to recall Li Xian. From then on, Wu Zetian did not have the intention of establishing Wu Chenghei and Wu Sansi as the prince, so he summoned Li Xian back to Luoyang, and the imperial heir Li Dan asked Xun to be the king of Luling, so Wu Zetian set Li Dan as the crown prince and was appointed as the marshal, and Di Renjie was the deputy marshal to lead the troops to attack the Turks.

After Wu Zetian solved the problem of the heir, Wu Zetian no longer had any thorny problems to solve, she was complacent, and with her age, she began to indulge in pleasure.

Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong brothers were young and beautiful, and they entered the military service. The two of them often wear gorgeous clothes. Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi and others all vied to chase after them, and even whipped and led horses for them. At that time, Wu Zetian had entered the twilight of life in the real sense, she was riddled with illness for a long time and could not go to the court for a long time, and her control over the government declined, she regarded the two Zhang brothers as her eyes and ears, and the two Zhang brothers gradually intervened in the government and framed Prime Minister Wei Yuanzhong, not only resenting the minister, but also reversing the situation of Wu Zetian's return to Li Tang and passing on the crown prince, which caused the political situation to complicate the political situation, and the relationship between Wu Zetian's mother and son, monarch and minister was also unprecedentedly tense. According to historical records, Wu Zetian's granddaughter, Princess Yongtai, was executed because she and her husband Wu Yanji and the imperial brother, Li Chongrun, who was then the king of Shao, discussed the first Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong brothers.

In the first month of the first year of Shenlong, Wu Zetian was sick and bedridden, and only the favored ministers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong served on the side. Prime Minister Zhang Khan Zhi, Cui Xuanwei and ministers Jing Hui, Huan Yanfan, Yuan Shuji, etc., befriended Li Duozuo, the commander of the forbidden army, and pretended to be Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong's brothers rebelled, so they launched a mutiny, led more than 500 forbidden troops, rushed into the palace, killed the two Zhang brothers, and then surrounded Wu Zetian's palace, asking Wu Zetian to abdicate, known as the Shenlong Revolution in history.

Wu Zetian was forced to cede the throne and the crown prince Li Xian. Li Xian was honored as "Emperor Zetian Great Sage", the end of the Wu Zhou Dynasty, the restoration of the Tang Dynasty, the hundred officials, flags, uniforms, writings, etc. were all restored to the old system, and the Shendu was restored as the eastern capital.

On the 26th day of the 11th lunar month of the first year of Shenlong, Wu Zetian died of illness in Shangyang Palace at the age of 82. In May of the second year of Shenlong, he was buried with Gaozong in Qianling.